Day 1
Fairmont Empress
Hotel · Victoria, BC
Stay at the Victoria hotel that opened in 1908.
Open the pick →SpringRomantic
Victoria to Tofino on the Pacific Rim Highway
Victoria, BC to Tofino, BC
A grand old hotel and a seafood room in Victoria, then across the island to the open Pacific. Long Beach is open all year, and the highway is far quieter before the summer rush; every stop is a pick.
- Best months
- March to June
- Stops
- 5 stops · every stop a pick
Stop by stop
Day 1
Marilena
Seafood · Victoria, BC
Dine in Victoria's grand modern seafood room, a best new restaurant of 2024.
Open the pick →Day 2
Pacific Rim National Park Reserve
National park · Ucluelet, BC
Walk the Long Beach Unit, open all year, for beaches, cycling and storm watching.
Open the pick →Day 2
Pluvio
Seasonal tasting menu · Ucluelet, BC
Book Warren Barr's seasonal menu in Ucluelet.
Open the pick →Day 3
Wolf in the Fog
Restaurant · Tofino, BC
Eat from Tofino's ocean, shoreline and forest.
Open the pick →
Before you go
- Highway 4 west of Port Alberni is 108 km of steep, twisting road that takes at least 90 minutes; use the pullouts to let traffic pass. Source ↗
- Parks Canada notes the highway is very busy in summer. Source ↗
- The Broken Group Islands and the West Coast Trail open May 1 to September 30; Long Beach is open all year. Source ↗
Sources
- Plan your visit: Pacific Rim National Park Reserve · Parks Canada
- Pacific Rim National Park Reserve · Parks Canada
More spring road trips
Photo: Schellack at English Wikipedia · Public domain AdventureApril to June
Sea to Sky: Vancouver to Whistler
Vancouver, BC to Whistler, BC
Highway 99 runs from the ocean to the mountains in a morning. Go in spring, when the corridor is quieter than summer, for a gondola above Howe Sound, a waterfall stop and two days in Whistler.
6 stops · 4 of them picks
Photo: Tony Hisgett from Birmingham, UK · CC BY 2.0 FoodieApril to June
Niagara wine country: Jordan to the Falls
Jordan, ON to Niagara Falls, ON
Four days of eating your way across the Niagara Peninsula, every stop a pick. Bread in Jordan, a barn among the vines, a 12-seat fish counter in St. Catharines, fire cooking in Niagara-on-the-Lake, and the Falls to finish.
7 stops · every stop a pick
